Designed by Atelier Seraji Architectes & Associés, in collaboration with Mehdi Bakhshizadeh and Tadbir Omran lranian, their questioning started with the debate on what is the most distinguishable aspect of Persian Architecture in trade, bank and stock exchange buildings? The other urgent question was regarding the main difference between western and Persian thought in contemporary cultural debates.

They came to the conclusion that one of the main differences is the description and perception of the idea of complexity and its structure in our culture. The result is a new public space through this new building in Tehran through building an innovative structure that sits intelligently with the site and proves the capacity of Persian engineering. More images and architects’ description after the break.

As most of our projects we start with an in-depth research of the subject and hold workshops and discussions about the program and demands and constraints of the project (social, cultural, economical as well as structural, material etc…) In Persian culture as is evident in eastern philosophy, complexity is circular, cyclic and very much perceived as sedimentation delivering a sense of unity.

There are very few essential elements in the language of architecture and the arts, however thousands of ways to combine the elements. When we hear Persian music, or look at Persian miniatures or read Persian poetry we realize that there are very few constructive elements but the resultant is all about depth and lingering, about time and pass time…about pause and focus. This is somehow the same in the Chinese construction culture where from two main geometrical shapes the circle and the square the entire universe is planned and represented.

These ancient cultures disappeared urbanisticaly and architecturally in modern times as the economies of our worlds turned toward the West. We are now facing new geopolitical times, and we think it is possible through our cultures to insist on other ways of seeing the world. The Stock exchange buildings have been open to public till very recently, as we observed the existing TSE building is very open and perhaps even the most public of the ones we visited.

The design allows the structure, the spaces, the program, and the facades to have the same logic while also allowing the building to create an architectural moment in the second district of Tehran. Looking at the program of the stock exchange they have designed the building as: Grand, simple and beautiful; Efficient technologically; Easily identifiable; Singular and timeless; Pioneering and a model; Symbolic at an International level; Recognizable at a National level.